


8 o'clock

by mattmurdork



Category: Captain America, MCU, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Gen, hotel au, i don't even know if that's a thing but whatever, modern day AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-27 23:43:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2711054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattmurdork/pseuds/mattmurdork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy's visiting family in New York & Steve works as a bellboy to pay for college. The two meet only days before Christmas and hit it off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Dammit.” Bucky muttered. “I fucking hate the snow.”

He glared at the tiny flakes as they fell in thick flurries, quietly blanketing all of Brooklyn.

“I dunno, Buck. It’s kinda nice.” Steve shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his wool uniform jacket and grinned brightly. “Makes it feel like Christmas.”

“That’s cause it is Christmas, punk.”

Technically, it was December 21, but there was no arguing with James Buchanan Barnes, and Steve Rogers knew it, so the latter said nothing, causing the two to stand in silence beneath the awning and the bright lights of Cowan Hall.

Steve stood to the right, calculating how much more he’d have to make in tips to pay for another semester of school; while Bucky stood to the left, praying that he’d make enough to buy a ring for Natasha. Neither was paying much attention to the road, otherwise they would have seen the yellow taxi long before it stopped in front of the hotel’s grand entrance. The boys looked at each other, mentally arguing over who would take care of the guest—

_College._

_Natasha._

_Please?_

_Fine, punk, but you owe me big._

—when a slim young woman slipped out of the cab.

Her brunette curls were tucked into a ruby beret and her ruby lips formed small smile, one that happened to make Steve a little more than weak in the knees.

“W-w-welcome to Cowan Hall.” He stuttered.

Her eyes were a warm brown that reminded Steve a bit of melted chocolate and a bit of home, and a he had a bit of trouble not getting lost in them.

The woman smiled a little wider. “Thanks.”

“Uh, you want me to grab you bags and bring them up to your room while you get checked in?”

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

Steve laughed slightly. “No trouble at all, ma’am. It’s kinda my job.”

“Ah.” She flashed Steve another smile. “Well, thank you anyway.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow at Steve and asked, “Ma’am?” once the woman had disappeared inside the lobby.

Steve pursed his lips, causing Bucky to snicker. Steve rolled his eyes at his idiot of a best friend and wondered what he had ever done to deserve being stuck with Bucky Barnes, as he rolled the woman’s luggage inside the hotel.

“Hey Pep—“ Steve called to the woman standing behind the front desk.

She didn’t even glance up from her computer at the sound of her name, but instead continued to peck away at her keyboard. “Room 912.”

“Thanks Pepper.”

“No problem, Steve.” Her fingers paused for a moment. “Hey, are you going to Clint’s later?”

“Probably. Why?”

“No real reason. I was just curious.”

“Uh-huh. Well, see ya, Pep.” 

“See ya, Steve.”

 

—

 

“906…908…910.” Steve muttered to himself as he dragged the woman’s suitcase behind him. “Ah, 912.”

He stopped in front of the last door, raised his fist to knock on it, thought better of it, and dropped his hand. Steve gave his uniform a quick lookover, making sure that it looked as impeccable as ever, before raising his fist once again after he was sure that he looked presentable.

Steve had barely knocked on the door twice when it was suddenly jerked open.

“Hi.” The woman said, nodding to the bags, “I presume that those are mine.”

“You presumed correctly.” Steve unshouldered her duffle and handed her the suitcase. “Here you go, ma’am.”

He nodded and turned to go when the woman cried, “Wait!” She dug around in her purse for a moment before producing a wadded up bill and shoving it into Steve’s hands. “There. That’s for bringing up my luggage.”

Steve looked from his hand to the woman. “I can’t take this.”

He tried to hand the bill back to her, but the woman refused to take it, stating, “Yes you can,” before shutting her door.

However, the door didn’t remain shut because hardly a moment later, the woman opened her door again and extended her hand towards Steve.

“I’m Peggy, by the way.”

“Steve.” He shook her hand politely. “Nice to meet you, Peggy.”

“And you as well, Steve.”

Steve grinned. “I hope you enjoy your stay at Cowan. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Peggy smiled back at him, before closing her door once more.

As she walked towards her bed, Peggy reached up to brush back a curl that had fallen out of place, but stopped mid-motion and frowned. She opened her hand and found the bill she had given Steve in her palm.

She sighed. “Well played, Steve, well played.”

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“So she was pretty,” Bucky commented off-handedly, as he changed out of his uniform and into something more practical for the harsh December night.

Steve blushed furiously, turning such a brilliant shade of red that his face was nearly same color as the raggedy scarlet scarf Mrs. Barnes had made him six Christmases ago. Bucky smirked a bit. No matter how many times he had seen Steve flustered and embarrassed, the sight never grew old. This, of course, did not mean that Bucky went out of his way to torture Steve, but rather that he happened to take the scenic route throughout their conversations, if only for a laugh. Plus, it wasn’t as if the punk was totally innocent when it came to teasing anyways, so – Bucky rationalized – it was only fair that he dish out the same shit that he took from Steve.

After beginning no less than four different statements only to find he didn’t have the words to actually cleverly evade Bucky’s implication, Steve crossed his arms and muttered, “Shut up, Buck.”

“What?” Bucky asked, throwing his hands out to emphasize the confusion that both he and Steve knew the former didn’t feel. “I just said she was pretty. Though, based on the way you got all moony-eyed when she stepped out of her cab, I don’t really think I had to point that one out to you.”

“Jerk.”

Bucky grinned lopsidedly, “Maybe, but you’d be lost without me, punk.” 

Steve snorted, causing the two men to dissolve into a fit of laughter as they strolled through the hotel lobby and out the revolving door.

“What the hell are you two laughing at?”

Sam was standing underneath Cowan Hall’s marquee and, based on his crossed arms and slightly irritable expression, had been there for quite a while. 

“Because I know if it’s at something Barnes said, it isn’t funny.”

Steve unsuccessfully tried to suppress his grin as he leaned towards Sam to stage-whisper, “It makes him feel better, you know? His self-confidence is so fragile these days.”

“Ah.” Sam glanced with mock-pity at Bucky and shook his head. Bucky, meanwhile, rolled his eyes. “That’s sad, but not really surprising, all things considered. I mean, look at him. He’s terrible face-wise.”

“You know I can hear you two assholes, right? And I’ll have you know, Wilson, that I am fucking fantastic face-wise. Thank you.”

And with that, Bucky strode off into the relative darkness of Brooklyn, causing Sam and Steve to follow behind him into the flurry filled night.

“Do you think he says that to himself in mirror every morning?”

Steve grinned a bit. “’Course he does. I think it’s a bit weird, but who am I to judge?”

 

* * *

 

“Hello?” Peggy bit back the irritable edge in her voice, as she answered the phone. “Yes Mum, I’ve made it to America and all in one pi – no I haven’t seen Michael yet. I figured I’d let him spend the evening with Lily and John, rather than making him cart me from the airport to the hotel.”

Peggy pinched her nose and prayed for a bit of patience, as her mother chatted on.

“Yes, yes, I’ll pass along the message. Verbatim, I promise. Goodnight.”

And as quickly as her conversation with her mother began, it was over. Peggy was used to this, the half-hearted and half-assed attempts at interaction, but they still left her drained and all too aware of how eclipsed she was by Michael’s shadow.

Perfect Michael. Saint Michael. The son who could do no wrong in the eyes of their mother, despite having eloped across the pond two years prior.

Peggy couldn’t even stay mad at him because he really was a saint, but she couldn’t help but be jealous of him and a bit peeved at herself for letting it bug her so.

Her phone chimed, drawing Peggy out of her head for a moment.

“Hello little sister.” Peggy could hear Michael’s grin over the phone, causing a small one to grow on her own face. She really couldn’t stay mad at him. “You aren’t avoiding me, are you?”

“Of course I am. I was only using your invitation as an excuse to avoid Mum all holiday long.”

“That hurts, Peg. I thought I meant more to you than that.” Peggy chuckled at bit at that. Michael had always been too overdramatic for his own good. “In all seriousness, though, why didn’t you tell me when you were going to land? I would have picked you up from JFK, you know.”

“I know, but you’ve been so busy lately that I figured it would be a welcome change to get to spend an entire evening with your family.”

“You _are_ family. And since you’ve denied me a chance to see you tonight, will you at least grab breakfast with me tomorrow? It would give us time to catch up.”

“Alright, but only so I won’t have to lie to Mum when I go home.”

“Good enough for me. There’s a diner – Founder’s is the name, I believe – that’s pretty decent and close to your hotel. Meet you there at oh-eight-hundred?”

“See you then. Night, Michael.”

He bade her goodnight, and Peggy smiled softly. She’d forgotten how much she’d missed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the actual worst. Sorry it took me so long to update. I'll try not to let this happen again.


End file.
